400 million barrels of oil to be released from strategic reserves as Iran targets commercial ships
Attacks on several commercial ships in waters around Iran on Wednesday heightened global energy concerns, pushed countries to exploit their strategic oil reserves and sparked fresh criticism of the Trump administration’s preparedness for a war it started.
As the Trump administration and U.S. military officials continued to claim growing successes and advantages in the conflict, world leaders rushed to respond to the latest attacks and the International Energy Agency’s call for the largest-ever release of strategic oil reserves by its members to help stem soaring energy prices.
In a speech Wednesday morning, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz had “virtually stopped” amid the conflict, leading to massive global competition for oil and gas in richer countries and fuel rationing in poorer countries.
He said the IEA’s 32 member countries brought a “sense of urgency and solidarity” to recent discussions on the issue, and unanimously agreed to “initiate the largest emergency oil stockpile release ever in the history of our agency,” making 400 million barrels of oil available.
However, he said the most needed change is the “resumption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.”
A seller pumps gasoline from Iranian tankers for resale near the Bashmakh border crossing between Iraq and Iran.
(Ozan Kose / AFP/Getty Images)
Several countries, including Germany, Austria and Japan, had already confirmed their intention to release their reserves.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on U.S. plans to release its strategic reserves, or how much would be released. The United States is a member of the IEA.
However, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum supported the idea of releasing oil reserves in an interview with Fox News.
“These are certainly the kinds of times that these reserves are used for, because what we have here is not a shortage of energy in the world; we have a transit problem, which is temporary,” Burgum said. “When you have a temporary transit problem that we solve militarily and diplomatically – that we can and will solve – it’s a great time to think about releasing some of them, to alleviate some pressure on the global price.”
Burgum said that even though Iran is “holding the entire world economically hostage by threatening to close the straits,” President Trump has made the consequences of such actions “very clear,” and “there are many options between us and our allies in the region, including our Arab friends in the region, to ensure that these straits remain open and energy continues to flow for the global economy.”
While some tankers suspected of being linked to Iran were still passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which under normal circumstances carries 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas, Iranian officials threatened to attack other ships, saying they would not allow “even a single liter of oil” linked to the United States, Israel or their allies to pass through the canal that connects the Persian Gulf.
Trump has repeatedly asserted that the United States and its powerful navy would support commercial shipping and ensure the strait remains open for oil shipments, but that has not been the case.
Oil tankers are waiting off the Mediterranean coast of southern France on Wednesday.
(Thibaud Moritz / AFP/Getty Images)
The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations Centre, run by the British military, reported on Wednesday that at least three ships were hit in the region, including ships off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and a cargo ship that was hit by a projectile in the strait just north of Oman, setting it on fire.
The Trump administration and the US military, meanwhile, have spread messages aimed at eliminating Iran’s ability to lay mines in the strait – releasing dramatic videos of major strikes against tiny boats on small docks.
Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, said in a video posted to X on Wednesday morning that “in short, US forces continue to deliver devastating combat power against the Iranian regime.”
“I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: American combat power is growing, Iranian combat power is declining,” he said.
The United States struck more than 60 Iranian ships and merely “destroyed the last of four Soleimani-class warships,” he said. “This represents an entire class of Iranian ships now out of combat.”
Cooper said Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks have “decreased significantly” since the war began, although “it should be emphasized that Iranian forces continue to target innocent civilians in Gulf countries, while hiding behind their own people when launching attacks from highly populated cities in Iran.”
He also directly addressed attacks on commercial shipping in the region, saying that “for years, the Iranian regime has threatened U.S. commercial shipping and forces in international waters” and that the U.S. military’s “mission is to end its ability to project power and harass shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Other US leaders have questioned the US war plan – and particularly its approach to protecting the Strait of Hormuz.
In a series of messages to
Murphy wrote that the administration’s war goals appeared to be primarily focused on “destroying many missiles, boats, and drone factories,” and without a clear plan for what to do when Iran — still led by “an intransigent regime” — began rebuilding that infrastructure, other than continuing to bomb them. “Which is of course a never-ending war,” he wrote.
Murphy also specifically criticized the administration’s plan for the Strait of Hormuz — which he said simply doesn’t exist.
“And on the Strait of Hormuz, they had NO PLAN,” he wrote. “I can’t go into detail about how Iran clogged the strait, but suffice it to say that right now they don’t know how to reopen it safely. Which is unforgivable, because this part of the disaster was 100% predictable.”
